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I Believe I Can Fly
Space Jam: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture | released = | format = | recorded = August 1996 | studio = | venue = | genre = | length = 5:20 (album version) 4:47 (radio edit) | label = | writer = Robert Kelly | producer = R. Kelly | prev_title = I Can't Sleep Baby (If I) | prev_year = 1996 | next_title = Gotham City | next_year = 1997 | misc = }} }} "I Believe I Can Fly" is a 1996 song written and performed by American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former professional basketball player R. Kelly, from the soundtrack to the 1996 film Space Jam. It was originally released on November 26, 1996, and was later included on Kelly's 1998 album R. In early 1997, "I Believe I Can Fly" reached number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100; it was kept from the number one spot by Toni Braxton's "Un-Break My Heart". Although Kelly has had two number one songs on the pop chart, "I Believe I Can Fly" is his most successful single. It reached the number-one spot of the ''Billboard'' R&B Singles Chart and remained there for six non-consecutive weeks, keeping "Un-Break My Heart" from the top position of that chart for four of those weeks. "I Believe I Can Fly" also topped the charts in eight countries (including the United Kingdom), has won three Grammy Awards, and was ranked number 406 on Rolling Stone s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004. The music video was directed by Kelly with Hype Williams and designed by visual artist and designer Ron Norsworthy. Background and composition In a 2013 interview with The Boombox, R. Kelly was asked about the creative process behind the song: "When I met Michael Jordan on a basketball court at an athletic club — we hooped together in Chicago — he came to me and asked me if I wanted to do a song for his upcoming movie," Kelly said. "I was like, “Yeah!” I didn’t even ask what it was. Eventually he let me know what it was, we went to a screening to watch it and that’s when I ended up coming up with ‘I Believe I Can Fly.’ I knew from the first melody that was gonna be the song that was gonna take me out of R&B and into another genre of music." Personnel * Produced and arranged by R. Kelly * Recorded by Stephen George at Battery Studios, Chicago * Assistant recording engineers: Chris Brickley and Rick Behrens * String Orchestra recorded by Carl Robinson at United Sound Systems – Studio A, Detroit * Mixed by R. Kelly and Stephen George at Chicago Recording Co. * Assistant mix engineer: Ron Lowe * Programmed by R. Kelly and Stephen George * Lead vocals: R. Kelly * Background vocals: The Luv Club Choir, directed by Percy Bady * Keyboard: Percy Bady * Strings: Paul Riser and The Motown Romance Orchestra, led by Hart Hollman * Executive producer: Barry Hankerson Cover versions *In 2003, punk rock band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes covered the song for their album Take a Break. *American singer William Hung recorded this song for his 2004 album Inspiration. *Saxophonist Marion Meadows also covered the song from the album Dressed to Chill. |title=Dressed to Chill overview|work=Allmusic.com}} *American singer and actress Patti Labelle sang the chorus of the song on her 1998 live album Live One Night Only as an addition to her signature tune "Over the Rainbow". *American singer and actress Jessica Simpson sang the song on her DreamChaser Tour in 2001. *The song has also been covered by Jane McDonald, Irene Reid, Etta James, Yolanda Adams (in a duet with Gerald Levert), Ruth Brown, James Ingram, Ronan Keating, Bianca Ryan, and formerly of Woe, Is Me Tyler Carter. *''American Idol'' candidates Katharine McPhee, Anwar Robinson, Aaron Kelly, Curtis Finch Jr., and Jacob Lusk all performed the song in different seasons of the TV show. *Singer Yolanda Adams performed the song at the Ronald McDonald Concert for World Children's Day in 2003. *The song was covered by Jermaine Paul on season 2 of The Voice. *The song was covered by Tim Olstad on season 3 of The X Factor. *The song was covered by Delvin Choice on season 6 of The Voice. *The song has been covered live by Faith No More in numerous tours, usually to segue into other songs. *The song has been covered live by James Carter's Organ Trio on Out of Nowhere. In film and television Other than appearing on the soundtrack for the film Space Jam, "I Believe I Can Fly" was performed by the school band in the movie Drumline during the high school graduation ceremony of Devon Miles (Nick Cannon). *In Ice Age: The Meltdown, Crash the possum sings the song after Manny catapults him with a tree before he crashes into another. *In the film Good Boy!, Wilson briefly sings the song while diving into a pool. *In Season 1, Episode 5 of the TV Series Da Ali G Show, Ali G performs the song during the opening skit. *In Fun with Dick and Jane, Jim Carrey sings along with the song as it is played in an elevator. *This song also appeared on the first American season of The X Factor, where R. Kelly performed "I Believe I Can Fly" for the first time as a duet with the eventual winner of the show Melanie Amaro. *This song was also performed on The Voice as the last solo song for the second season's winner Jermaine Paul. *American musical TV series Glee, performed a version of the song in episode fourteen of season three, "On My Way" (aired on February 21, 2012). It is a mash-up track with the song "Fly" by Nicki Minaj featuring Rihanna. *In The Hangover Part III, Leslie Chow sings a 12-second portion of the song, while parachuting through Las Vegas. *In Red Velvet's Level Up Project, Wendy Shon sang the chorus while parasailing and riding on a speed boat in Pattaya, Thailand. She also sang the chorus in Level Up Project 2 in 2017-2018 and in Battle Trip's Episode 103 while paragliding in Krems an der Donau, Austria. Other performances Kelly performed his song at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards. In The TP-2.com Tour, Kelly performed a 10-minute long remix of "I Believe I Can Fly," which included dialogue from a priest, Kelly's mother, and God as characters. The remix was later featured on the bootleg release Loveless. STS-122 crew heard this song on flight day 10 as a wake up call. Since its release, it has become commonly associated with the NBA, most notably with Michael Jordan. The song also played at the conclusion of NBC's broadcast of the 1997 NBA Finals. In addition to the NBA, the song also found use at other sporting events, most notably at Major League Baseball's New York Yankees home games during their four consecutive World Series runs from 1998 to 2001, the first three of which they won. A version of the song, recorded by the Halifax community choir, was used as the backing track to a 2012 UK TV advertisement for the Halifax Bank. On October 13, 2012, when the Space Shuttle Endeavour was being transferred from Los Angeles International Airport to the California Science Center through the streets of Los Angeles, the recording was played as the shuttle left The Forum, and the song was performed live by James Ingram later that day at Debbie Allen's live show celebrating the Endeavour's arrival at the corner of Crenshaw Blvd and Martin Luther King Blvd. (The shuttle was delayed over five hours in arriving there; to keep the crowd entertained, the performance went on only slightly delayed.) Parodies *In the 1999 episode "The Best of Both Worlds" of the animated TV series KaBlam!, in the Life with Loopy segment, the song was spoofed as "I (Don't) Believe I Can Fly." *In 2013, the song was parodied by sports radio show Tim & Sid, spoofing the song as "I Believe in Masai", in reference to Toronto Raptors General Manager Masai Ujiri. *In 2016, the song was parodied as "I'm Convinced I Can Swim" by "Art Smelly" from the soundtrack to the hit film Earth Jelly in an episode of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Charts and certifications Weekly charts Year-end charts Decade-end charts Certifications }} References External links * Category:1990s ballads Category:1996 singles Category:1997 singles Category:1996 songs Category:Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media Category:Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs number-one singles Category:Music videos directed by Hype Williams Category:European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Category:Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Category:Dutch Top 40 number-one singles Category:Number-one singles in New Zealand Category:UK Singles Chart number-one singles Category:Number-one singles in Switzerland Category:R. Kelly songs Category:Contemporary R&B ballads Category:Pop ballads Category:Bianca Ryan songs Category:Songs written by R. Kelly Category:Looney Tunes songs Category:Songs written for films Category:Basketball on NBC Category:Atlantic Records singles Category:Jive Records singles